The lizardmen seem to have come from that weakly acidic swamp.
The liquid clinging to their bodies looked like it.
There's no way I could pass through that swamp myself.
So reaching their habitat would probably be difficult.
The hole where the two rotting dragons appeared also connected to that same swamp.
I discarded the bones of the discarded heroes who had been toyed with by the monsters.
I threw them into that depression where various bones were crammed together.
The ground is too hard to bury them.
This is the most I can do right now.
The slightly acid-melted clothing from the skeletons—I wrapped weights in it and sank it into the acid swamp.
Here, they would just become toys for the monsters again.
Having finished the killing and cleanup, I decided to head upward.
I climb the gentle spiral slope mindlessly.
I can feel fatigue accumulating in my legs.
But perhaps the correction values are having some effect?
I feel like my stamina and leg strength have improved compared to before the summoning.
I just kept climbing.
And finally, right when I was about to reach the upper layer—
I encountered monsters.
Double-headed leopard people.
They reminded me of were-tigers.
Two of them.
Their bodies easily exceed two meters.
The base features like skin color are the same as before.
They still spray acid.
Their faces are more monstrous compared to the leopards I know.
The double-headed leopards gave off this atmosphere.
"Finally, the next prey has shown up."
Perhaps they sensed my presence and came down from above?
I feel killing intent.
They also exude the same sadistic play-killing nature as the lizards.
I raise my arm.
The double-headed leopards' eyes narrow.
Mocking expressions.
"What are you doing? Whatever you do is pointless, human?"
It almost feels like I can hear those voices.
The right-side double-headed leopard plants its feet.
It starts moving—right at the moment of initial action.
The instant when consciousness has the biggest gap.
I learned that in these ruins.
"[Paralyze]"
"Go, goa—...!?"
The right-side double-headed leopard freezes in its stepping posture.
The other one has a dumbfounded face.
It does not understand what just happened.
"That weak human... did something?"
A reaction to witnessing something beyond reason.
And then the other double-headed leopard realizes.
Its own body cannot move.
"[Poison]"
Next, the double-headed leopards notice their bodies changing color.
And the abnormality.
Naturally, [Paralyze] and [Poison] are multi-target designation.
For a moment, hesitation arises within me.
Something I wanted to verify.
If a monster dies far away, do I still get experience?
Should I test it now...?
No—it's my first encounter with this type, so I'll pass.
It might be a rare monster with massive experience.
"Gu, go, goa..."
After waiting a while, both double-headed leopards die almost simultaneously.
[Level up.]
[LV 665 → LV 692]
Quite a bit of experience.
But not enough to call it massive?
I pass by the dead double-headed leopards.
Continuing forward, I finally reach the upper layer.
Another cave-like area.
After walking a while,
"Ah."
I encounter the same type of monster I just saw.
Six humanoid double-headed leopards.
They sit in a circle.
All the monsters look at me at once.
"Huh? This one didn't run into the ones below?"
They seem to be saying that.
But the monsters immediately exude joy.
"The next playmate has arrived."
Something like that.
Then one picks up something placed beside it.
A string-like object with human skulls attached to both ends...
It vaguely reminds me of nunchaku.
One starts swinging it.
Whirr whirr whirr whirr!
"Go ga aa♪ Ga, ga♪ Gaaa—♪"
The neighboring double-headed leopard points at the skull nunchaku.
"Go, a, a, a, a!? Ga, ga!?"
It also has a sadistic expression.
I somehow understand what they are trying to say.
"Look? Look? It's your comrade, right? Scared, human?"
I thrust out my arm.
"[Paralyze]"
"—O...? Gu, go!? "
"[Poison]"
▽
Right now, beneath my eyes lie the corpses of six double-headed leopards.
After applying [Poison], I went back to where I killed the first two.
It was at least 500 meters away, I think.
My level did not go up.
At 500 meters distance, no experience is gained.
The first two gave me LV 665 → LV 692.
After that, I killed six more.
I would have expected at least 1 level up.
"The principle is unclear, but... if they're too far away, no experience is gained."
It's a shame the experience went to waste.
But I'm glad the verification I was concerned about progressed.
"..."
I pick up the fallen skull nunchaku.
I disassemble it and remove the skulls.
I carry the two skulls and go back a little way.
My destination is the spot I found earlier with the depression in the wall.
I place the two skulls side by side in that depression.
I clasp my hands.
I do not feel the skulls are creepy.
Rather, I feel a strange kinship.
Fellow discarded heroes.
I think they did well to climb this far.
"..."
I continue forward.
▽
The bare rock cave continues for a long way.
A winding, rugged path.
Endlessly similar scenery.
But the path is steadily leading upward.
I can feel myself steadily approaching the surface.
That fact alone greatly alleviates the sense of futility.
"—Oh."
The leather pouch's light suddenly goes out.
I thought I had infused a large amount...
But it seems what I infused during the lizardmen fight has run out.
"Hm?"
Huh?
"Eh? The gem's color... returned?"
The gray gem has turned back to yellowish-green.
A different kind of tension from monster encounters runs through my chest.
I ate another piece of jerky midway.
One piece left.
Cola is down to about one sip.
With praying feelings, I infuse mana into the gem.
Purple rises steadily from below.
H-how is it...?
Is this pouch that always transfers food and drink?
If nails or something come out, they won't help right now...
Please...
The result—
"For real?"
One onigiri with boiled egg and a 500 ml bottle of green tea.
"It came..."
Food and moisture.
I almost want to shout.
It's not fully confirmed.
But the possibility has jumped dramatically.
The leather pouch is likely a unique item that transfers food and drink.
What made me happiest was—
"The transfer function recovers over time."
The boiled egg onigiri—I had seen them at convenience stores.
But I had never eaten one.
Rip.
I remove the wrapper.
"Ham... munch munch... —!?"
U—delicious...
The seasoning is probably a strong soy sauce base?
The soft-boiled yolk rolls on my tongue.
The saltiness of soy sauce melting together with mayonnaise is perfect.
The nori flavor enhances it further.
And rice—after so long.
Probably cooked with dashi or something?
The grains are lightly coated brown.
The strong, aggressive flavor launches a relentless wave attack.
The rich intensity conquers my taste buds.
I open the green tea cap.
I pour it into my mouth, now completely occupied by strong flavor.
"Gulp... gokyu...!"
The refreshing green tea washes through my mouth.
A different cool sensation from cola...
A different kind of satisfaction from jerky & cola.
"...Fuu."
To put it mildly... the best.
I stop drinking the green tea at about half.
I finished the onigiri, but I'll save the green tea.
I stuff the plastic bottle into the leather pouch.
For now, I'm putting trash in the pouch.
It seems surprisingly elastic—the pouch can still hold more.
Probably because it's a magic item?
The material feels unexpectedly durable too...
With my throat and stomach satisfied, I decide to continue forward.
▽
I keep climbing upward single-mindedly.
Climb, climb, climb.
I encountered monsters several times along the way.
Here, the standard rules I know about "dungeons" do not apply.
Normally, stronger monsters appear in lower layers.
But in these ruins, the monsters do not get weaker as I go up.
Rather, they seem stronger than Minotaurs or bird heads.
Why?
Because my level keeps rising.
The rate of level increase has slowed.
Probably because the required experience is increasing.
But even so, my level continues to rise little by little.
If I killed the same number of Minotaurs or bird heads, it probably would not keep rising like this...
"E, e, hyogo e e—!"
A monster with a horse lower body and insectivorous plant-like upper body appears from the darkness.
It lets out a strange cry and charges toward me.
At first glance, it looks comical.
Which makes it conversely creepy.
"O goge! Ge e! Go ge hiii! O, ge!"
It spits acid like vomit from its mouth-like part.
It definitely—holds killing intent too.
Do not be fooled by the bizarre appearance.
"[Paralyze]"
It is properly coming to kill me.
"[Poison]"
"[Sleep]"
I keep killing, killing, killing.
I do not neglect to periodically check the leather pouch gem's color.
When I confirm it has returned to yellowish-green, I immediately infuse mana.
The third gift is yakisoba bread and a pack of vegetable juice.
The long-awaited vitamin supplement.
Who should I thank?
I gratefully accept it.
After finishing the meal, I continue forward again.
I walk, walk, walk.
After a long time doing the same thing, my thinking starts to dull.
My monologues have decreased too.
I start feeling slight itchiness on my head and body.
Green tea could wash it if possible?
But I cannot use precious green tea for hair or body washing.
For sleep, when I found a side cave, I took a nap there.
The several bone fragments I brought in the pouch.
Dragon zombie bones.
I place them near the side cave.
So I can move anytime.
But I was ambushed only once.
That time, the bone alarm device did its job.
I killed the attacking monster and leveled up.
I continued aiming upward.
I move my feet toward the surface.
Whenever I spot a monster emitting killing intent, I kill it.
I periodically check the pouch's condition.
I repeated the same actions.
My thinking becomes simpler and simpler.
I think nothing.
I feel nothing.
I become paralyzed.
My thoughts, my emotions...
Just how long did I walk?
"..."
I look up.
I have finally reached that place.
"This is—"
Clearly different scenery from before.
Yellowish-brown buildings overgrown with vines.
There must have been a civilization here long ago.
"The ruins area, huh."